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Novotel Mississauga dispute ends in major victory for union

Managers at a Mississauga hotel acted illegally when they used misinformation and threatened job losses to stop employees from unionizing and removed the key organizer from the workplace, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has ruled.

The board ordered automatic union certification for employees at the Hotel Novotel Mississauga, one of a worldwide chain of hotels owned by Accor, a Paris-based company.

It also ordered the hotel to pay union organizer Rekha Sharma the equivalent of eight hours of pay per week dating back to April 2009, when her part-time hours were cut to zero during the union drive and certification vote.

Sharma, 27, led the unionization movement at Novotel Mississagua, visiting fellow employees in their homes to sign them up with UNITE HERE, and speaking at a rally in March 2009.

“This case sends a serious message to employers,” said Stephen Krashinsky, the lawyer with Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP, who represented the union at the labour board. “The message it sends to employers is to back off and let the employees decide, without your interference, whether or not they want a union.”

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Under existing labour legislation in Ontario, union certification can be ordered if it is found that an employer used intimidation or other pressure tactics to stop employees from forming a union.

Eric Buitenhuis, vice-president of operations for Novotel Canada, said in a statement that Novotel is reviewing the decision and considering next steps.

“We respect and value our employees, and they have independently recognized Novotel Canada as one of Canada’s Top 50 Best Employers (by Aon Hewitt) for a third consecutive year in 2012,” he wrote.

According to the labour board decision, Novotel Mississauga managers falsely led employees to believe that they would have to switch medical doctors and dentists if they joined the union and that they would no longer qualify for the company’s RRSP plan.

They made repeated statements linking unionization to job losses, and days before the vote they circulated a letter strongly urging employees to vote against union certification.

“Taken as a whole, the Hotel’s illegal activity was of such a nature that the wishes of the employees cannot be ascertained in a representation vote, even a vote held in conditions favourable to the union,” the labour board’s decision stated.

“We are ecstatic to have finally won our union,” said Sharma, but she pointed out that the process took four years. “Decisions at the OLRB need to be faster so that companies do not get away for years breaking the law by delaying the process.”

Sharma, who still works part-time as a server in the hotel’s main dining room, said she will put any back wages she receives towards school tuition.

News of the union victory was also welcomed by Matubber Hossain, a dishwasher at Novotel Mississauga.

He said he needs 40 hours a week to earn a decent living, but he’s been getting only 30 hours over six days a week at $16.21 an hour. He thinks he was given fewer hours because he supports the union.

“People who talk against unions get more hours,” he says.

UNITE HERE represents workers in the U.S. and Canada who work in hospitality, airports, laundry, food service, gaming, manufacturing and textile industries.

“The decision makes it clear that the tactics are illegal and undermine people’s basic rights under the law,” said David Sanders, organizing director for UNITE HERE.

The Novotel Mississauga organizing campaign began in October, 2008. Although 63 employees had signed applications for union membership, by the time the vote was held on May 11, 2009, employees voted 50 to 33 against representation.

The labour relations board decision pointed out that after the hotel conducted roundtable meetings with employees, spreading misinformation about the implications of union membership, the volume of card signings dropped steeply.

There were approximately 90 employees in the proposed bargaining unit.

“It’s rampant, absolutely rampant,” said Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

“Employees are being prevented from moving into the middle class by employers who cheat them, who give them part-time jobs with low pay and no benefits,” said Ryan. “They’re prevented from joining the middle class by unscrupulous employers who interfere with their democratic rights to join a union.”

Union leaders are calling for labour law reform in Ontario, including a return to card-based certification, meaning that when a majority of employees in the workplace have expressed their desire to join a union, their signature on a card should be enough.

Having to hold a vote in addition to signing people up gives employers the opportunity to intimidate, coerce and dissuade workers from voting in favour of unionizing, according to the OFL.

The OFL also wants to see immediate reinstatement for workers who are fired or whose hours are cut during a union drive, claiming it takes about two years to challenge a termination, which can have a chilling effect on the remaining workforce.

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